Iran's state energy company Tavanir is offering citizens a $20 bounty to report illegal cryptocurrency miners as the country grapples with power outages and severe heatwaves.
According to Iran International, Tavanir authorities identified illegal crypto mining and a record heatwave of 49.7°C as the main factors disrupting the country’s power grid.
“Opportunistic individuals are exploiting state-subsidized electricity and public networks to mine cryptocurrencies without proper authorization,” said Tavanir CEO Mostafa Rajabi Mashhadi. To encourage the public to report these unauthorized activities, Mashhadi announced that “a reward of one million tomans (about $23) will be given to individuals who report each unauthorized cryptocurrency mining rig.”
Iran International also reported that industrial production was facing a crisis and frequent power outages were halting operations.
According to Mashhadi, Tavanir discovered more than 230,000 illegal cryptocurrency mining devices. Comparing the electricity consumption of these devices to the electricity consumption of the entire Markazi State, Mashhadi said, “It would be necessary to build a 1,300-megawatt power plant to provide this amount of electricity.”
*This is not investment advice.